''R v Andrews'',

990 Year 990 ( CMXC) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Al-Mansur, ''de facto'' ruler of Al-Andalus, conquers the Castle of Montemor-o-Velho (mode ...

3 S.C.R. 870 is a decision of the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...

on the freedom of expression under section 2(b) of the ''

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms The ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (french: Charte canadienne des droits et libertés), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part o ...

''. It is a companion case to ''

R v Keegstra ''R v Keegstra'', 9903 SCR 697 is a freedom of expression decision of the Supreme Court of Canada where the court upheld the ''Criminal Code'' provision prohibiting the wilful promotion of hatred against an identifiable group as constitutional u ...

''. The Court upheld the criminal provision that prohibits communicating statements that wilfully promote hatred.

Background

Donald Andrews Donald Wilfrid Kao Andrews (born 1955) is a Canadian economist. He is the Tjalling Koopmans Professor of Economics at the Cowles Foundation, Yale University. Born in Vancouver, he received his B.A. in 1977 at the University of British Columbia, ...

was the leader of a

white supremacist White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other Race (human classification), races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any Power (social and polit ...

political group known as the

Nationalist Party of Canada The Nationalist Party of Canada is an unregistered far-right political party in Canada that was founded in 1977 by white supremacist Don Andrews. The party describes itself as white nationalist, and is known for its antisemitic and racist publi ...

and Robert Smith was the party secretary. Together they were in charge of the party's bi-monthly magazine called the National Reporter which made claims against the Jewish and black peoples. Both Andrews and Smith were charged with "unlawfully communicating statements, other than in private conversation, which willfully promoted hatred against an identifiable group" contrary to s. 319(2) of the Criminal Code. At trial they were found guilty for promoting hatred. On appeal to the

Court of Appeal for Ontario The Court of Appeal for Ontario (frequently referred to as the Ontario Court of Appeal or ONCA) is the appellate court for the province of Ontario, Canada. The seat of the court is Osgoode Hall in downtown Toronto, also the seat of the Law Societ ...

Justice Cory found that section 319(2) violated section 2(b) of the ''Charter'' but could be justified under section 1. The question before the Supreme Court was # whether s. 319(2) of the ''Criminal Code'' violated section 2(b) of the ''Charter'', and if so, whether the violation was justifiable under section 1. # whether s. 319(3)(a) of the ''Criminal Code'' violated section 11(d) of the ''Charter'', and if so, whether the violation was justifiable under section 1. The court held that section 319(2) and 319(3)(a) violated the ''Charter'' but were saved under section 1.

Reasons of the court

Chief Justice Dickson, writing for the majority, upheld the Criminal Code provisions. Dickson looked to his opinion in R. v. Keegstra and applied the reasoning from the decision came to the same conclusion that the law should be upheld.

External links

*
case summary at mapleleafweb.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andrews Canadian freedom of expression case law Supreme Court of Canada cases Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms case law 1990 in Canadian case law Neo-Nazism in Canada

Background

Reasons of the court

See also

External links